Pubdate: Thu, 29 May 2014
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2014 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Rick Green
Page: 11A

PETITION DRIVE BEGINS FOR MEDICAL POT

A group in favor of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes 
kicked off a petition drive Wednesday aimed at putting the issue 
before voters in the November statewide election.

"I'm here to say I believe Oklahomans have a strong sense of personal 
liberty and personal freedom, and that's what I want to appeal to," 
Chip Paul, chairman of Oklahomans for Health told about 50 people at 
a rally outside the state Capitol.

"There's thousands of Oklahomans who suffer every day with conditions 
which could be treated with medical marijuana, but they're not 
allowed to, they can't, because it's not available as a medicine, or 
they commit a felony by going out and treating their illness with a 
valid medicine."

The group must gather signatures from more than 155,000 registered 
Oklahoma voters by Aug. 16 to have the measure placed on the ballot.

The proposed constitutional amendment would allow Oklahoma residents 
older than 18 to obtain a license to legally buy marijuana if a 
physician certifies the person has one of 37 qualifying medical 
conditions ranging from insomnia to cancer.

It would set up a licensing procedure for the sale of marijuana. It 
also would set a maximum $400 fine for those with up to 1.5 ounces of 
marijuana who say they have a qualifying medical condition but don't 
have a license to have the substance.

State Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Forest Park, told those at the rally 
marijuana can be helpful as a medicine, and existing criminal 
penalties for its use are too harsh and end up harming families and 
communities.

"We're ignoring the facts about this miraculous plant that God 
created," she said. "He created every plant and seed that we would 
need on this Earth, and he saw that it was good and guess what, 
marijuana was one of those plants. So when I see this 
buckle-of-the-Bible-Belt state mentality against something that God 
created to the extent we have criminalized it, I've got a problem 
with that, and I think you do too."

Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and 
Dangerous Drugs Control, said that although backers of medical 
marijuana talk about the substance's benefits for sick people, the 
underlying agenda tends to be full legalization and recreational use.

He said there are a host of problems associated with the intoxicating 
substance.

"We can learn from the mistakes of other states that have had it on 
the books for two decades," he said. "While a small percentage of 
people may be benefiting, there's a larger, darker side for profits 
and a recreational high."

Woodward said there usually are better treatments for ailments 
mentioned by marijuana advocates than smoking the substance.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom